Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western
Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbr ...
(from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former
Legnica Voivodeship
Legnica Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Legnica.
Major cities and towns (population in 1995)
* Legnic ...
). It is the seat of
Jawor County
__NOTOC__
Jawor County ( pl, powiat jaworski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governme ...
, and lies approximately west of the regional capital
Wrocław. Through the town flows the 31 mile long
Raging Nysa river (pl: ''Nysa Szalona'')
A Protestant
Church of Peace can be found in the town. It was named a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
Jawor Castle
Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies appr ...
lies in the town.
History
The name of the city ''Jawor'' comes from the Polish word for "
sycamore
Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry".
Species of trees known as sycamore:
* '' Acer pseudoplat ...
". The earliest recorded name dates from 1133 when the city was written down as Jawr and in 1203 as Jawor. Till 16th century the name was written down in Latin in various forms such as: Iavor, Iavr, Javr, Javor, Jaur, Jaura, Jawer, Jauor. Polish form Jawor was continued to be used, for example in painting from 1562 located in church of St.Martin. Other form Iawor is recorded in document from 1248 and in document from 1277 the name Iaver is used. In 1295 in the Latin work ''
Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis
Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis ( pl, Księga uposażeń biskupstwa wrocławskiego, ''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') is a Latin manuscript catalog of documents compiled in the later 13th or in the early 14th centu ...
'' city is noted as Jawor. In the 1475 Latin ''Statuta Synodalia Episcoporum Wratislaviensium'', which also contains the oldest Polish-language printing, as Jaworensis.
The German name Jauer is a Germanized version of the original Slavic name, and by 1750 Polish name Jawor was still used in Polish by Prussian authorities. The German name became official after 1763 and Prussian-Austro war.
Jawor was the main
stronghold
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
of the Trzebowianie tribe, one of the
Polish tribes, and became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. According to
medieval chronicles the settlement was expanded in the 11th century.
[''Kalendarium Historii Jawora'' (in Polish)]
/ref> It was granted town rights between 1242 and 1275. As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, Jawor became part of the Duchy of Silesia, then the Duchy of Legnica from 1248, and from 1274 it was the capital of the Duchy of Jawor,[ the southwesternmost duchy of medieval Poland, before being integrated with the ]Duchy of Świdnica
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition.
There once existed an important difference between ...
in 1346, part of which it remained until 1392, all the time remaining under the founding dynasty of the Piasts
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great.
Branche ...
. By the end of the 13th century, stone defensive walls were erected.[ Between 1279 and 1334 the St. Martin church was built and in 1311 the St. Barbara church was renovated.][ Churches of St. Martin and St. Barbara are the oldest churches in Jawor. In 1324 the first hospital was founded.][ The first known image of the coat of arms of Jawor, preserved on the city seal comes from 1300.][ Jawor has grown into one of the most important centers of weaving in Lower Silesia.][ In 1329 Jawor was granted ]staple right
The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch ''stapelrecht'', was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to ...
by Duke Henry I of Jawor.[ In the 14th century, the first guilds were founded, bringing together furriers, tailors, clothiers and merchants.][
After losing the town by Poland, it was then ruled by ]Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...
, Hungary, Bohemia again and Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
. The town suffered during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) as a result of repeated invasions, occupations, religious persecutions and epidemics. In 1626 it was plundered by the Austrians, in 1633 briefly occupied by Saxony and recaptured by Austria, in 1639 occupied by the Swedes and in 1640 recaptured by Austria, in 1642 occupied by the Swedes, then the Austrians and again the Swedes, finally captured in 1648 by the Austrians, who plundered and burned the town and expelled its inhabitants.[ After the war, in accordance to the Peace of Westphalia, the so-called Church of Peace was built, however, the Protestants were still being discriminated against by the Austrian administration.][
In the 18th century, the town and region was the subject of Austrian-Prussian wars, eventually passing to ]Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
in 1763.[ The Prussians turned the Piast Castle into a prison.] In 1776 the town suffered a fire.[ On 14 May 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars and Polish national liberation struggles, Polish troops marched through the town, the day before they fought the victorious battle of Struga against the more numerous Prussians.][ In 1871 along with Prussia the town became part of Germany, and remained within until 1945. During World War II the Germans imprisoned French and Norwegian women in the castle, participants of anti-German resistance movements.][ In the final stages of the war, in early 1945, most of the town's population was evacuated by the Germans.][ It was captured by the Soviets in February and passed to Poland in April.][ After the war the region officially became part of Poland again as per the Potsdam Agreement. Also according to the agreement, the Germans who had not already fled, were expelled and Polish citizens, many of whom had been expelled from the ]Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
Seventeen days after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which marked the beginning of the Second World War, the Soviet Union entered the eastern regions of Poland (known as the ''Kresy'') and annexed territories totalling with a population ...
, became the majority.
The surname "Jaworski," meaning someone whose ancestors had ties to Jawor, is a fairly common surname both in Poland itself, and among Polish emigres to countries such as the United States. Examples include Leon Jaworski
Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon af ...
and Ron Jaworski.
Notable people
* Nicholas Magni (1355–1435), theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
* Christoff Rudolff (1499–1545), author of the first German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
textbook on algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
* Heinrich Gottfried von Mattuschka (1734–1779), German botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
* Wilhelm Ebstein
Wilhelm Ebstein (27 November 1836, Jauer, Prussian Silesia – 22 October 1912) was a German physician. He proposed a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet to treat obesity. Ebstein's anomaly is named for him.
Biography
Ebstein was born to a Jewish ...
(1836-1912), doctor who described the heart disorder Ebstein's anomaly
* Gerhard Bersu
Gerhard Bersu (26 September 1889 – 19 November 1964) was a German archaeologist who excavated widely across Europe. He was forced into exile from Germany in 1937 due to anti-Semitic laws in pre-war Nazi Germany. He was interned on the Isle ...
(1889–1964), German archeologist
* Max Otto Koischwitz
Max Oscar Otto Koischwitz (February 19, 1902 – August 31, 1944) was a naturalized American of German origin who directed and broadcast Nazi propaganda against the United States during World War II.
Early life
Koischwitz was the son of a promine ...
(1902–1944), Nazi propagandist
* Heinz Finke (1920–1996), German officer
* Janusz Krasoń (born 1956), Polish politician
* Elżbieta Witek
Elżbieta Barbara Witek (née Zbanuch; born 17 December 1957, in Jawor) is a Polish politician and former Minister of the Interior and Administration, in office from June 2019 to August 2019, currently serving as the Marshal of the Sejm (). Fir ...
(born 1957), Polish politician, Marshal of Sejm (since 2019)
* Aleksander Śliwka, (born 1995), Polish volleyball player
Twin towns – sister cities
Jawor is twinned with:
* Berdychiv
Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center ...
, Ukraine
* Niepołomice
Niepołomice (pronounced ; ) is a town in southern Poland, within the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999).
It is situated on the Vistula River, on the verge of the large virgin Niepołomice Forest.
There is a 14th-century hunting castl ...
, Poland
* Niesky
Niesky ( Sorbian and pl, Niska, cz, Nízké) is a small town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 9,200 (2020) and is part of the district of Görlitz.
Historically considered part of Upper Lusatia, it wa ...
, Germany
* Roseto degli Abruzzi
Roseto degli Abruzzi (), more commonly Roseto, is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is a beach resort on the Adriatic Sea and has about 24,000 inhabitants. Geographically, Roseto is positio ...
, Italy
* Turnov
Turnov (; german: Turnau) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It is a traditional centre for gemstone polishing, glass craftsmanship and arts. The town centre is well preserve ...
, Czech Republic
Sights
* Church of Peace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland
* Jawor Castle
Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies appr ...
, former residence of local Piast dukes
* Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
- Renaissance St. Martin church
* Regional Museum ('' Muzeum Regionalne'') located in the former Bernardine monastery
* Town Hall
* Medieval town walls
* Strzegomska Tower
* Municipal Theatre ('' Teatr Miejski'')
* St. Adalbert chapel
* St. Barbara church
* Former Beguine monastery and church
File:Swiątynia Pokoju w Jaworze - 191.jpg, Church of Peace
File:Jawor - Kościół Pokoju w Jaworze - wnętrze f.JPG, Church of Peace, interior
File:Kościół św. Marcina w Jaworze.JPG, St. Martin church
File:Jawor - rynek - Kroton 010.jpg, Market Square (''Rynek'')
File:Jawor june 2014 326.JPG, Old townhouses at the Market Square
File:Jawor (0104).jpg, Legnicka Street in the Old Town
File:3151vii Jawor. Foto Barbara Maliszewska.jpg, Former Bernardine monastery
File:SM Jawor Chrobrego41 (0) ID 591288.jpg, Chrobry Street in the Old Town
References
External links
Official site
Jewish Community in Jawor
on Virtual Shtetl
Church Of Peace in Jawor - photo gallery
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Jawor County
Cities in Silesia